The 31-year-old defeated Justin Thomas to claim his third career PGA victory after a third round win over Australian Jason Day.
Straka, the first Austrian to win the tournament three years ago, took a four-point lead heading into the final round of the Coachella Valley tournament.
He didn’t have a bogey for four days until he made two bogeys on the final three holes on Sunday, but his competitors couldn’t make a charge that would have made it uncomfortable.
Straka looked cool and composed at PGA West, but he wasn’t.
“Nerves, just complete nerves,” Straka said. “Stomach in knots, all nine. Yeah, I’m just really excited about how I handled the pressure today.”
Thomas shot 66 to finish at 23 under, one shot ahead of Justin Lower (69) and Day (69). Lower achieved the best result of his tour career.
Patrick Cantlay and Charley Hoffman were both under 20 years old.
Hitting the greens consistently and putting skillfully, Straka was three holes away from becoming the first tour player since 2022 to go 72 holes without a bogey in victory – until he hit his second shot on the 16th into the far right rough behind the berm.
His third shot didn’t reach the green and he narrowly missed the par putt from 5 yards out.
Straka’s first major mistake made no difference, and neither did his next one.
On the 18th, he hit his approach shot to a bunker and then missed a 23-foot par putt, but he sank his bogey putt from 4 feet and celebrated with minimal fist pumping.
“You really can’t let this golf course go,” Straka said. “You still have to swing really aggressively because you’re one swing away from double bogey. I think the biggest challenge today was staying aggressive on my goals.”
Thomas, who finished third in last year’s American Express, made six birdies in the first 11 holes in the final round and briefly cut Straka’s lead to three shots.
The two-time PGA Championship winner fell short in his bid for his first tournament victory since 2022, finishing the round with seven consecutive pars.
“I had a chance,” Thomas said.
“Obviously it wasn’t a great defensive game, but I was proud of myself. I did what I had to do today in the top nine to at least make some noise and move up the leaderboard.
“It’s unfortunate that we stopped there after 11:00. I really, really played some great golf today.”
Day was another former PGA Championship winner with a chance to advance to the fourth round.
However, he failed to make a charge during the final group game against Straka, and a bogey from the 15th pushed him out of reach.
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